French company OCEA to launch a shipyard in the Philippines


According to information published by Philippine News Agency on July 7, 2021, OCEA, a shipbuilding firm in northwest France, has expressed its intent to build a PHP1.5-billion shipyard in the country.
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Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 BRP Gabriela Silang during an exercise in June 2021 (Picture source: Philippine Coast Guard)


The company OCEA built the future BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV-8301), an 84m offshore patrol vessel for the Philippine Coast Guard.

The OPV is designed to carry out all maritime security and safety missions under the responsibility of the Coast Guard in the waters of the Philippine archipelago. It can conduct Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) surveillance operations, smuggling and illegal immigration control, anti-piracy and anti-trafficking missions, search & rescue, natural resources and blue economy protection, anti-pollution activities, diving operations and sovereignty missions.

Powered by twin MTU 16V 4000 M73 diesel engines, Gabriela Silang has a contractual maximum speed of 22 kt and a range of 8,000 n miles at 12 kt.

The vessel can accommodate a crew of 40, with 26 additional spaces for mission-specific crew. It can also take up to 35 evacuees when accommodated in more austere conditions. With its core crew, the vessel has an endurance of five weeks.